help me make a choice

[deenasteedeezign 0]

i have been close to press the buy button about 1000 times since i joined this forum,but still havent had the courage to do it. the reason for that is ,i have never cut a thing in my life,i am the newest newbie to vinyl cutting,and i wanna do contour cuts to boot.i have done heat transfer t-shirts for quite a while now and im ready to expand to other things like signs and vehicle lettering. so this brings here.for my budget the laserpoint is the answer to my prayers.but is it the machine that a person like myself wants to use for the first time? it seems like it very difficult to do contour cutting with this machine.ive searched the forums for actual videos of someone doing contour cutting from start to finish,but havent found anything.can someone please,please,please give me some advise. is this the machine for me or should i start looking at the higher priced rolands or graphtecs?

[deenasteedeezign 0]

oh,and i apologize for the repeat post,sorta speak,but im kinda desperate lol

[Guest fivestar]

Honestly from what I have read throughout the forums I would probably go with a higher priced machine if you're going to be doing alot of contour cutting.  As far as heatpress vinyl and sign vinyl, these machines are excellent for them.  I have the refine 721 and honestly when I bought mine I had no idea that it was a "plotter".  I searched Ebay for a "sticker cutter"  I didn't have a clue and that was about a yr and half ago, with the help of this forum I like to think I am "pretyy damn good" with one now. 

US Cutter sells the graphtec now and it is cheaper then ANYWHERE I have seen so my advice is to purchase one of them if you're going to be contour cutting alot.

[rebjr 0]

If you are seriously going to be doing a lot of contour cutting, go for the more expensive machines. I have an LP24, and it does a good job, for the money a fantastic job. But, you have to manually line up EVERY time you cut. I have a friend with a Roland, and it automatically seeks the registration marks. Graphtec is a very solid reputation and with US Cutter support I don't think you can go wrong buying a Graphtec from them.

So, go for the 1001 and last time, punch the button and buy the graphtec from US Cutter, if you have the money. If not, buy the LP and you'll just be slowing up your production time by a tad, make some sales, and upgrade when you can. But, whichever, get off your duff and get a machine and start producing stuff!

[deenasteedeezign 0]

ok,that being said,the lp24 is a solid machine just for regular cutting without contour? and if i go with the lp,do i get the 24" or the 36" being that the 36" is only $100 more on ebay.

[Guest Terry]

Graphtec 

[kenimes 42]

Graphtec 

The one and only choice if you can swing the cost. Met with the Graphtec rep. today who gave us a demo on the settings and features of their solid built units. The price is justified. Sweet machines.     

If the budget is tight, the LaserPoint is a good machine for a fraction of the cost. Pays for itself within the first few jobs you do. That really goes for any of the lower end machines we offer. Need contour cutting capabilities? Limits your choices between the LP and GraphTec series.

[Guest fivestar]

Ken you're biased, let me try out the ole graphtec and give a review.    BTW, thanks for all you help

[haumana 1,220]

Five - when you're done with your test drive, send it to me to test drive too. 

[kenimes 42]

Ken you're biased, let me try out the ole graphtec and give a review.  :)   BTW, thanks for all you help

[rebjr 0]

So, did ya pick something yet? Or you still waiting on the 24/36" question?

That's an individual choice. But, it does give you more cutting capacity, if you are going to offer vinyl as well.

For contour cutting shirt transfers you won't get any gain as the largest paper you'll find is going to be 11x17. Although some printers will print larger than 11x17, I don't know of anybody who is offering dark papers (which would be the only thing you'd need to contour cut) beyond 11x17.

If you need a source for dark paper, I stock a new paper by Neenah that is really great. I've done a ton of tests on it and it is the best dark offered by anybody. I'm going to do a dry cleaning test on it this week, just for the heck of it.

[deenasteedeezign 0]

ACTUALLY,I JUST MADE A CHOICE TODAY,I BROKE MY PIGGY BANK AND WENT ALL OUT AND GOT A ROLAND GX 24 FROM IMPRINTABLES WAREHOUSE.I FIGURED IM GONNA BE USING IT FOR A LOT OF CONTOUR CUTTING AND I NEEDED SOMETHING THAT WAS VERY EASY TO USE,NOT SAYING THE THE LP24 ISNT BUT MY GUT WAS TELLING ME TO GO WITH THE ROLAND.OH AND AS FAR AS HEAT TRANSFERS ARE CONCERNED, I HAVE AN EPSON 1280 SO MOST OF MY TRANSFERS ARE 13" WIDE.I USE ROLL TRANSFER PAPER,ITS THE BEST DEAL I COULD FIND ANYWHERE,IT COMES OUT A LITTLE OVER A DOLLAR A SHEET FOR SUPER B SIZE( 13 X 19).BUT I WOULD LOVE TO TRY SOME OF YOUR TRANSFER PAPER,ANY SAMPLES?

[rebjr 0]

Yep, PM me your addy and I'll get some samples to you along with a bunch of others I need to get out, just got in some ziplocks for samples.

I didn't look at roll papers when setting up our paper sources. From a resellers point anybody can use sheet paper, there are less "professionals" like yourself who make the investment and sacrifice to dedicate a printer, etc.. Are you getting paper for darks shirts on roll?

Are you using dye, pigment, or sublimation inks?

I just bought a epson 1400 and am loving it. I've tested the clarion (dye) inks and they produce excellent results. Actually am picking up a dry cleaned shirt today, I figured that is going above and beyond the call, but if it goes thru dry cleaning at all I know for sure that it is good, solid paper as well as ink. And, there are several sources of after market clarion inks at low prices.

I had 1280's and loved them, but once they failed and I couldn't find replacement parts, etc.. And, of course the 3000 can still be bought from rebuilders with good warranties, but it is expensive, and is soooooo slow .....

[deenasteedeezign 0]

yes,im using opaque roll paper also,and i use both,pigment based for all my garments (magic mix brand) and sublimation for my other products (airtranium brand).i have 2 epson 1280 and 4 c88 (2 of the still in the box brand new that i got from radio shack for 35 bucks when epson discountinued them) for back up to my 1280's i also use the c88's for garments or products that require samller prints.i have i have cis systems in both my pigment machines no cis on the sublimation machines,the ink is too expensive to take a chance with.did i read that right,you are using dye based for heat transfers?

[rebjr 0]

Yes, I am using the stock formula epson clarion right now. I just called the dry cleaners to check on my shirt, hand am fretting about the outcome, wondering how it will turn out ... she told me it looks great to her. I will know in the morning for sure when I see it. This particular shirt has been washed 5 times, ironed inside out twice, and now drycleaned, it is a black 100% cotton gildan using the new neenah opaque paper with epson dye ink.

I have read some other articles where folks have successfully used the clarion formula with shirts. I have not tested it with whites or lights yet. I have only tested it with opaque paper, so the paper could be the key to it holding up. I don't sell the ink, so it's no issue to me, but the overall quality of the transfer is.

I also have Okidata's that I run, both standard and sublimation toners (which we resell as well). I do much less with the sublimation laser than we used to, as there is so much advancement in papers today that you can do almost any product with standard laser toner. I've done extensive testing with Image clip and love it not only for t-shirts but it works well on mugs also.

Nonabelle can attest to the wonders of image clip and laser printers .... ;-)

[deenasteedeezign 0]

i must be outta the loop,i have never heard of using dye based inks with any kind of heat transfer! amazing.

[deenasteedeezign 0]

oh,did u get my addy in the p.m i sent u?

[rebjr 0]

Sure did. I will be sending out samples by weeks end to everybody who requested them.